city of blinding lights

sometimes i do really stupid things.

like this weekend, for example, when i decided that i could manage to go to two back to back U2 concerts and run a half marathon in between. yeah. that was not such a hot idea.

don't get me wrong: it was AWESOME. well, the concerts were awesome. the running was actually painful, exhausting, and almost discouraging. but let's tackle one at a time, shall we?

the half marathon was a training run for me, but it ended up being pretty discouraging in the grand scheme of marathon prep. if the marathon is anything like the 1/2, i'm going to cry my way through it. my running partner-in-crime AA ran with me the whole hot, disgusting, shadeless stretch of wretchedness and we managed not to die. i had had only 5 hours of sleep the night before, and had gotten up at 5am to pick AA up and head down to the race, which got started a half hour late and the sun that had scarcely emerged all summer decided to beat down on us the entire exposed concrete course. it wasn't much fun. i would have probably crapped out and slept in that morning if it hadn't been for AA. and i would have just walked the last half of it if she hadn't been next to me for the whole 13 miles. so now, with new blisters on my feet, i'm trying to psyche myself up for next weekend's 20miler. gross. say a prayer for me, K? i'm not looking forward to it....

but really, the 1/2 marathon debacle was just sort of an interesting aside to the rest of the weekend. a paranthetical comment to the main events. how crazy is it that i can say that running 13 miles is just a blip on the calendar?

in addition to running a ridiculous number of miles on very little sleep, i got to go to not one, but TWO U2 shows this weekend. one in the nosebleeds with my work friend, and one on the ground with Yale.

the saturday night show was great, and the nosebleeds were actually pretty remarkably awesome seats. we could see everything, it was comfortable, and it felt weirdly intimate in the enormity of the spectacle. it was fun. exhausting. thrilling. rolling out of bed the next morning for the run felt like idiocy. but i powered through it.

after the bleak run on sunday morning, Yale came up to meet me and we departed for the general admission early entry line. knowing full well that some people had been in line since the previous night. we arrived at about 3p, and pulled up a lovely piece of lawn and talked about funny things and serious things, and i got to talk to his best friend, who lives in CT, and heard a rave review of Yale and how happy he is for us. and Yale and i took turns reading "pride and prejudice and zombies" outloud to each other, to the amusement of our linemates. hilarious book. you should check it out...

and after the hours in line and the hours of waiting around inside the stadium, about 10 people deep from the outer stage ramp, i got to share my U2love with my new love, and it was magic. i got a second and third wind. i danced and screamed and tried to be gentle to my aching knees. he loved it. he was entranced. and i was so amped up from the music, from bono, from the exhaustion and the thrill of having him there with me that i was euphoric. no runner's high that morning, but i had a U2andinlove high that night.

and so when we finally got home and the ringing in our ears had subsided and my weariness caught up with me and he said "i know i promised not to keep bringing this up until you let me know what you are ready to talk about it, but i just have to say that i am so crazy in love with you, and i want to spend the rest of my life making you happy and serving with you and loving people. and i want to talk about that with you. for me, it's just a question of when and how, not of 'whether'". and i just grinned really big and said "ok. let's talk. when it's not 2am and when i am not about to collapse. but soon." and i didn't even feel panic when i said it.

so, not exactly the culmination of my dozen-years-held "getting engaged at a U2 concert" fantasy, but pretty damn fantastic, either way.

i'll keep you posted!